"Ballybunion, that shimmering institution of Irish golf - It’s a testament to Ballybunion – the town, but in... http://t.co/UHR4dTqF" - 8 hours ago
"a friend, who shall remain nameless, sent us this. the photographer was obviously very taken with their... http://t.co/0zx89Y04" - 9 hours ago
"Photo: Not sure I can explain this one, but will try in due course. In the interim, I blame Newcomb Cole... http://t.co/yo8sa0sE" - 22 hours ago
Check out this video - few blogs to follow from day 129 (Moore Park), day 128 (the Lakes) and day 127 (Avondale). But safe to say that for now, all eyes are focused on the U.S of A.
Some exciting news in the video as well...
P.S G'day to all the US readers from Berkeley - we have a new mobile contact which is +1 510 3266355
On day 127 I had the pleasure of playing with and against Michael in our annual father and son challenge for the Burradoo Cup - named after the place where we were living when Mike, as a 3 year old, started to play golf.
We played at Avondale Golf Club which is situated on Sydney's north shore in the suburb of Pymble.
Avondale is currently ranked (by Australian Golf Digest) as no 75 in Australia after being out of the top 100 for some years.
I last played at Avondale about 25 years ago. While I had some recollection of the course it certainly did not help me!
The course is set in a gum treed, hilly area with some interesting and challenging holes. Each fairway was tree lined with some holes completely isolated from any other.
Of particular note were 18 a very strong par four, 17 a very good short par four, 16 a very strong uphill 400m par four, 15 a 150m par 3 and 14 a very long par 5. The course was in very good condition and well worth playing.
Michael proved too good on the day.
Due to the very slow play we invited the three gentlemen (Steve, Bruce and Peter) playing behind us to join us for the last two holes. Of the three one was a local member and the other two gentlemen were from The Australian and Castle Hill.
They were excellent company for the last two holes and the hospitality at the 19th.
All in all a very pleasant day. Thank you to Avondale.
Day 102 was in many ways, the last day of our puregolf2010 "holiday" where our daily routine of golf was squeezed in amongst spending as much time as possible with the girls. After a morning of sightseeing and lunching at the serene Watson's Bay, we dropped the girls off at the airport, perhaps not to see them again for quite a while. So it was with some sadness that after saying our farewells we moped around the corner to Botany Golf Course to quickly get a round before darkness set in. We teed off at around 4pm but fortunately for us BGC is a 9 hole course. Our third of the sort in the last four days and probably our last for quite a while! The angle for today was that we swapped golf clubs for the day. There wasn't a huge adaptation involved with this as we both use Mizuno irons, but it was still a good way to mix it up. (P.S we're looking for a golf club sponsor after our talks with TaylorMade came to an unfortunate end - so any suggestions please let us know!) Interestingly, it also became a day where our golf games swapped over. For example I watched Jamie smash my 2 iron 20m past me off the tee, and he watched me sink a few putts with his blade putter. It is fair to say he had about as much joy with my putter as I had in January, eg None. Admittedly there was a fair amount of chance involved on the greens as they had seen better days, and it wouldn't be a bad business decision for the club to bundle a pitch repairer up as part of the green-fee. Today I thought I had made my first hole-in-one on the 6th hole, but my eyes had deceived me. Even when I was optimistic I wasn't that excited as I thought to myself it wouldn't have been the best way to get my first hole in one - on a 90m hole whilst rushing around to get in before dark. But I wouldn't have complained. We frequently get asked whether we have had a hole in one, and unfortunately JP and I are still both on the duck. So we got through the round before darkness set in and meandered back to Randwick. Today was a first for me in that I hit 100% of fairways, which is definitely a first. Maybe I should stick to Jamie's clubs.. On the stats note, I have just been informed by our stats-man-on-the-ground AKA - William Corke, that we are not too far away from having our stats streaming through on the site (link above) - so Stay Tuned.
Some days you have it; some days you don??t. Whatever ??it?? is, it eluded me today at Concord. With Their Excellencies The Golf Widows having occupied all of our time and energies over the past week, golf has taken a back seat. This appears to have had a profoundly detrimental impact on my already mangled golf swing. (And I thought it couldn??t get much worse...) But it??s no use blaming said Golf Widows or anyone else; I??ll just have to bite the bullet and learn how to swing the club properly again. Again.
Concord??s something of a bully. It??s what they call an ??A Grade? Sydney course, which I think means something akin to ??top tier? or ??really quite private?. Or maybe ??A? pertains to its difficulty rating, A clearly being Harder Than Granite on this scale which I made up. Perhaps I exaggerate, but when you happen upon this place (actually, you wouldn??t happen upon it, they??d probably only let you on if you play with a member), and you get into the nasty fescew (correct spelling?) rough, you??ll see what I mean. Treacherous. Could drive a weaker man to drink.
Today at Concord the members were having some sort of annual haggle ?? a mixed combined stableford, or something of the like. Given our group comprised 3 males, none of whom are members, needless to say we didn??t join in. The 3rd, by the way, was Mike Irwin ?? Goldy??s old man??s best mate. The 2nd was Goldy, as you might??ve guessed. Because the event was run as a shotgun start, we were sent out to the 13th tee ?? possibly the furthest point on the course from the clubhouse ?? probably because no one else wanted to start so far away. On horseback the trek might??ve only taken us 2 days.
I was instantaneously led into a false sense of security. The 13th is a dogleg left, which happens to suit my strong draw quite nicely. After caressing my 3 wood ??round the bend, within a wee flip of the surface, I thought the stars might be aligned for a successful day at the course. I was wrong. Concord may have more dogleg rights than the rest of Sydney??s golf courses put together. Or even Australia??s. The 13th ?? like the 17th at Royal Adelaide, or a kind word spoken by an Englishman about a Scotsman ?? is totally out of character.
Mike??s an interesting gentleman with a few strings to his bow. He??s a Sydneysider who did a PhD on something to do with blood proteins; travelled to the US for a bit; started then sold a successful environmental testing business; took a few years off and enjoyed himself; built a log cabin from scratch on a 3,500 acre property he and 19 others own in rural New South Wales; started a software business that??s going great guns; and plays the odd game of golf. So he??s lived. And has a few stories to tell.
??Twas just as well we had good company today, because had Goldy and I and our dreadful golf been left to our own devices, deep deep depression may have reared its ugly face. With Mike??s chirpy company however, even bad golf was water off a duck??s back. Such are the powers of the man and his chat.
The course was great it must be said. Certainly one of the strongest we??ve played this side of the ditch. Very much a tree lined layout, demanding precision from the tee. And from the fairway (if you??re lucky enough to hit it on one ?? I??m ashamed to say I notched up 2 fairways for the stats page today...nothing short of abysmal). Beginning where we did, at the armpit of the course, it??s hard to gather my thoughts about the course, to relay them on to you good people. I shall do my best.
The 1st as it should be is a gentle introduction; a short, downhill par 4 to a slightly raised green. My only real memory of the hole was Michael chipping it into the bunker from 10 metres short of the green. He was not amused. The architect then takes you on a tour ??round the perimeter, the OB fence running precariously along the right hand side of 2, 3, 4 and 5, from memory (just about all of which are dogleg rights). Having already had my impetuous gripe on this subject I??ll say no more. The 8th was a beauty. Despite taking a triple bogey 7 (to halve the hole with Mike, Goldy having had a lost ball...) I have very fond memories of the way the fairway meanders gently down to a creek, only to rise gently for 30 metres or so up to the well guarded green. One of the better short par 4s we??ve played outside of the sandbelt.
Number 10 is an interesting hole ?? if anything because it used to be 2 holes (9 & 10) that have now been combined into one (another par 3 was added on the front because the members didn??t like the 9th green being a hike from the clubhouse ?? and fair enough too). The hole is now a sharp dogleg (yes, you guessed it, to the right) framed by a string of bunkers at the elbow and a significant drop in elevation down to the green. 10 was also noteworthy on this fine Sunday because it was the site of my only ??fairway + green? combo on the stats counter. I??m not joking, sadly.
Goldstein did his best to wriggle the skins match from my grasp, by collecting 5 of the things on the last hole (taking the score to 15 JP; 14 MG). We both thumped driver over the hill on 12 and ?? with tired legs and the prospect of sitting in the clubhouse front of mind ?? left our sticks on the tee, carrying only a set of wedges and a putter. Unhappily I??d underestimated the length of the hole (and/or the wind) and needed to hit a very big wedge indeed to get home. Like, a 135 metre into the wind wedge. When you??re hardly firing on all cylinders. Predictably I came up short, into the devil grass, and took double. Mick The Magician wrangled himself a 4 and collected his dues, but came up one short overall. Not that it mattered to ??im ?? he never gives up, being the tenacious little blighter that he is.
While prizes were dished out in the clubhouse we sat on the deck and enjoyed the serenity of a beautiful Sydney evening. Because the waiters ?? who were handing round plates of savouries ?? were good enough to pay us in the cheap seats a visit, we enjoyed them too (the savouries, that is). And then we were on our way, back to The Golf Widows for another evening of anything-but-golf-talk. Angela and Gretta had been to Taronga Zoo, and had a blast. Throughout the afternoon we??d played like monkeys; they??d gone one better and played with monkeys.
Thanks to Concord for being fine hosts, and to Mike for putting up with our putrid golf. A struggle but an enjoyable one.
JP
For the privileged few members that belong to Elanora Country Club, heading out there for a hit must really be one of life??s true pleasures. It was our privilege today to experience a day in the life of an Elanora member, and I can tell you it??s something I could get used to.
The Country Club sits atop Elanora Heights, some 45 minutes north-east of Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was established in 1928 as an offshoot of Royal Sydney GC, by a cluster of well heeled members who wanted to set up a course closer to their Northern Beaches weekenders (or baches, as they call ??em in NZ). The grand old clubhouse that confronts you as you trudge wearily up the 18th fairway opened a decade later, many moons ago in 1938.
The membership is a mature one; you won??t find many young guns out ??ere. If you were caught having a pee in public when you were 18, or have a few too many speeding fines, don??t count on your membership application being accepted ?? I reckon getting yourself into Elanora is just about as hard as getting yourself a game on Ellerston. And so you won??t be surprised to hear that our companions on Day 98 were Outstanding Humans of The Highest Order.
Chris Smith was our kind host for the day. Some years ago Chris was Tony Caughey??s best man; Tony is a relative of Michael??s, whom we met for dinner in Auckland back in...February. Goodness time flies. Through this nexus a game of golf at Elanora came to fruition, and I??m profoundly grateful that it did. We both are.
Mick and I drove over the bridge at sparrow??s fart to Chris?? pad in Kirribilli, which must be one of the better places to live in this town (it??s a stone??s throw from the PM??s residence, quite literally). Chris then took us on a tiki tour out to The Club in his truck, and gave us a spot or two of history on the way. He??s originally a Nu Zilliner, from Wellington no less. But the lures of Far Better Money must??ve brought him to these shores years ago, and now it seems like he has quite a nice existence for himself. Well, he??s a member at Elanora - ??nuff said.
Chris also arranged for Tim Woodhouse ?? son of former President of the New Zealand Court of Appeal, Woodhouse Snr (I forget his name because his judgments put me to sleep for 5 years through law school) ?? to join us as the 4th. Well heeled company indeed. Well heeled however doesn??t in any way mean elitist or anything of the like; on the contrary, these two gentlemen were just that ?? Gentlemen. They couldn??t have made us feel any more welcome throughout the day, and we certainly owe them a good day next time they visit Wellington. The same goes for the staff at the club, who seemed to go out of their way to make our visit a pleasing one.
The course. Ah, the course. I should first say that their greenkeeper (head greenkeeper, I think) is also a greenkeeper at Augusta. In fact he??s over there now, looking after one of the holes. For The Masters. Needless to say then Elanora is Immaculate...like the lawns at Oxford University immaculate. It snakes up and down through the bush, most holes veering in different directions ?? the wind therefore demanding a raft of different shots. The wind figured prominently on this fine afternoon, then as fate would have it died as soon as we finished. A stern test of golf is probably a good way to describe the experience. Really quite stern. (In case anyone's interested, it was substantially redesigned by James Wilcher of Golf by Design; work began in May 2002, and the new course opened in 2004).
My vocabulary in inadequate to describe the beauty of this place, so I??m going to leave you with a pictorial guide to Elanora Country Club. I suppose not many are lucky enough to get a look at the place. Check it, appreciate it, and try to get yourself a game here one day. Really, it??s a rare pleasure.
Thanks to Elanora Country Club, Chris and Tim for being such fantastic hosts ?? it really was one of those days we??ll look back fondly on in 20 years, misty eyed, and think ??that??s how a Thursday afternoon should be spent?.
Peace
JP
1 hour 45. To play 18 holes. Must??ve been our quickest yet. And without running too. Think that??s roughly 6 minutes per hole, give or take a few seconds. I.e. 1 unit per hole, in the old money (lawyer time).
The imperative this week, as we have foreshadowed in recent days, is to spend As Much Time As Possible with our lovely, tolerant, benevolent girlfriends, who??ve flown across from Wellington to share a week of puregolf2010 with us in Seedny. So golf??s taken a back seat, as you can imagine. Like...the back seat in a Chrysler Grand Voyager ?? behind the first back seat, 10 feet from the driver. Way back. You get the picture.
Warringah jumped onto our itinerary recently when the girls decided (i.e. we were told) the plan was to stay in Manly for a couple of nights, where a dear friend of theirs?? resides. It??s close by, and a nice wee track to boot. Perfect.
Problem was we didn??t go to the trouble of finding out in advance where exactly it was, and Google Maps on my iPhone deserted us in our time of need. No internet credit ?? wbat a drainer. So Goldy drove around the side streets of Manly for half an hour while I did my Level Best to top up said phone. Which was a struggle, to say the least. At 6.45 am, I might add.
Eventually we got to Warringah ?? which should never have been such a mission ?? and chopped it down the 1st (sans practice swing). A nonchalant greenkeeper (who was a dead ringer for the lead singer from dDub, a chap called Derek from memory) stared from the green back at me, as I was lining up my sand wedge approach, then began mowing the green from back to front before I struck it. Obviously he either trusted me completely to hit it stiff, or was stoned. I still don??t know which.
The front 9 passed us by very quickly, and swung very much in my favour (think I picked up 10 skins in the first 5 holes, courtesy of a few birdies and a few residual skins carried over from the day prior). Then Mick began something of an onslaught and things just went wrong from my end. Putts lipped out; drives hit paths and kicked sideways; trees got in the way, as they have been known to do. 15-14 it ended up. Which is far closer than it should??ve ended up. Golf, ??innit.
No sooner had we finished 18 holes in what-must-be-dam-near-record-time than we found ourselves sitting on Palm Beach (aka the beach from Home & Away, that ghastly Aussie soap that the girls ruin their brains with each Sunday morning omnibus styles). Oh dear. The beach, at least was nice; and they happened to be filming an episode while we sat on the beach, some 15 or 20 metres away (the girls'll be watching every show for the next 2 years, to see if they can see themselves looking very subtle in the background). I got no kick out of the experience, to be honest ?? but the girls did, and that??s what matters. That's the party line.
It??s been one of the blurrier days of 2010. I??m not sure quite what happened, or whether it even happened to me. All I know is that we played some golf, very quickly (and rather indifferently), and now we??re in Manly again with our better halves. It??s also my 4th anniversary today, so I better excuse myself and share a nice glass of wine with Angela. My apologies.
JP
P.S. no photos because we played so dam quickly.
P.P.S. speed golf on Friday at Woolhara - 9 holes, par 28, it's gonna be QUICK! My money's on sub-30 minutes.
We have just played a fast round of golf. 2 hours 45 minute to be precise. And at the pace we finished, it could have been much much faster.
Our hurry was with excitement to see the girls, Gretta and Ange. They are in Sydney to see us for the week so whilst we will play golf every day, that was not be the top priority. So we are currently scuttling up the M7 into Sydney after playing Macquarie Links.
Macquarie Links is a resort style private members course in a gated community in the southern suburbs of Sydney. The course was relatively strong off the backs at 6200m, and had a variety of holes. Come the first Jamie commented that he hadn't birdied the first hole of the day for a long time so he was especially gutted when his putt lipped out with a full lap of the hole. A sign of things to come as the lip outs kept torturing him throughout the round.
One strange feature of the track was that each hole was named after a very obvious feature of the hole. Take for example the second hole which ran alongside a road, which was appropriately called "road". Or the fourth hole which features a number of old trees which was also appropriately named "old tree". Other jaffas included "railway", "billabong" and, of course, "home".
"Road" was one of my favourites as the fairway snaked between two bunkers and then the approach featured a lake surrounding the front and right of the green. It was also home to my first of 6 three putts. My daily torture that is putting. I was worse than Ed. Sorry mate.
Before I go on I must mention our wee episode that occurred on the third hole. Jamie had misjudged the distance and hit up on the four-ball playing ahead of us. He drove up to apologise but his apology was not entirely accepted. Actually, the woman in front kindly said that if it wasn't Easter she would fight him. How festive. But tempers died down and rationality ensued and they were, like most golfers, pleasant folk and let us through amidst some polite chat a few holes later. Hitting up was a mistake yes, but an easy one to make on a new and unfamiliar course.
Another feature of the course was the amazingly receptive greens. When the ball landed it took out a huge chunk of the green and then stopped suddenly or spun back violently. This made pitch shots very easy to control which really helped scoring. This was target golf like you see on tele. I scraped four birdies relying on the greens to stop my pitch shots, mostly on the par fives. One of the par fives was memorable - "railway" which snakes around to the left, with the tee shot blocked by a giant gum tree smack bang in the way. And then the second was over a gully, between the customary 'par five bunkers' placed 70m short of the green (I scoffed at the predictability of cross bunkers on par fives on the first hole and then hit my second in them - go figure). The green was actually not far from the railway, something I didn't appreciate until my second shot ended about 20 feet from the fence. We actually raced a train down the 17th as well.
Two other holes deserve a mention. I will start with the less favourable mention on the 12th hole. This is a par five and at 470m it was reachable in two. But the green was just too skinny - barely 30 feet wide with overhanging trees and a hazard immediately on the right, and on the left a sharp slope off to Out Of Bounds. It was pretty much impossible to hit a full shot into the green from the middle of the fairway unless you could hit a stinging cut to the narrow green. Too narrow. I made birdie, so you are probably thinking what am I on about, but I think a par five should give you the option of going for the green in two. There was no option whatsoever here apart from a chipped layup down the left of the fairway.
Lastly the par three 210m over water. A cracker. And we both knocked it on and made 3. So the memories are pure. I will leave it at that, we've been stung on the Sydney toll roads but it's going to be a sweet week in Sydney.
M
Greetings fellow global golf travel voyeurs.
Matt Cleary here, I??m the sports journalist these two wandering golf adventure chancers have been mentioning in previous despatches and I??ve been charged with writing this Special Guest Blog because the boys are off to the town of Nowra and it??s possible the town of Nowra is not yet connected with the global interconnected ??web? of computers known as ??The Internet?.
Actually Nowra does have ??The Internet?, it??s three hours south of Sydney and a nice enough town if you like pubs full of toothless fisherman, man-eating sharks and race riots, none of which is true though there are sharks at nearby Jervis Bay because they breed there and, presumably, make shark love. Good luck to them.
So! The boys and myself and Luke ??Elvis? Elvy from Fox Sports a television program that??s all about sport as is right and proper played golf St.Michael??s in Sydney??s east a course founded by Catholics in 1925 because they weren??t allowed to play elsewhere such were the times, or maybe it??s because they wanted to play with other Catholics, or maybe something else I have no idea I made it all up. But there is some historical thing about the club??s catholic roots that you could look up if you were of a mind. And good luck to you.
So! We played St.Michael??s which is a champion golf course with superb fairways, greens harder than a very hard maths test and rough so thick that if you walk into it it might actually attack you like a triffid or that plant that ate that house on Doctor Who a show that was on in the olden days or at least a bit before these two Kiwi were alive, I would warrant. But it??s pretty rough rough the rough, and more than once the Kiwis looked for their balls fearful of horrible gurgling death by red-bellied black snake and/or bears which drop from the trees like furry ninja assassins. Someone might have warned them of these things when they were 4-up with eight to play.
Unfortunately for Elvis and I who formed the Australian half of this Second Bledisloe Cup encounter, the lads didn??t go looking often, and dusted us 6-and-5 in the 4BBB match-play second-ball counts format. Unhappy days, though given I was able to fill them full of beer an hour after they got off the plane on Saturday and teamed myself with a 62-year-old South African who swings the club cack-handed and plays off six like Jesus would if he were six-marker, it??s actually 1-all in Bledisloe Cup standings and the three-Test series is very much alive and will be concluded when the boys are back in Sydney in April thereabouts when Elvis gets us on some flash place on the North Shore of Sydney Town such is the man??s unparalelled power.
St.Michael??s? Superb piece of real estate. Holes either wind through the bush ?? dominant organisms: witch-finger shrubs and ti tree ?? or roll by the Pacific Ocean or is it the Tasman Sea I can never tell it??s all bloody water. Anyway it??s a ripper St.Mick??s and you should play in their Thursday Open Comp when you??re in the eastern suburbs of Sydney because it??s a ripper. And for forty bucks ($NZ427.50) it represents Top Value.
The boys played pretty well, roughly to the handicaps they claim are there??s but which they really should be arrested for given they appear to be crimes against burglary for which they probably should be sent to a penal colony like Australia once was in chains and then whipped and put in a gulag and made to knit their own food from cat hair. Just putting it out there.
But actually they did play well. Jamie hits a big high hook that??s like a boomerang that comes halfway back while Mike spanks a two-iron like Michael Jackson used to spank his huge troop of monkeys. (Ha!) But what won the lads this encounter is that the bastards, particularly the funny Scottish one, putted like Gary Player putting to save his quite considerable fortune which meant Elvis and I had buy them drinks after the game such are the ways of men.
The second nine Elvis??s Fox Sports camera crew turned up and followed us around which caused a brief cessation in the beating. A bigger case of stage fright than a 17-year-old in the lavatory of that pub in Once Were Warriors. ??Eek! Too much weights and not enough speed work!? said the boys or something like it, as Elvis and I took the tenth hole after I spanked a quite magnificent birdie and the boys blocked their approach shots further right than Pauline Hanson. Four-down and the Aussies were back.
But from there it was all Kiwi and Elvis and I were done n dusted like so many versions of Australian road-kill, a particular piece of Australiana the boys are going to be seeing a fair bit of in the next couple of months as they continue their extraordinary odyssey. (And just as an aside: How about this trip! Who are these people!?)
Back at the golf and in the ways of men we went double-or-nothing on the last five holes and despite going one-up had to win the last hole to halve that particular match, which we did so we didn't buy them sandwiches as well. But then I did buy them a sandwich anyway because they look thinner than the half-a-dozen lob-wedges I skulled across St.Michael??s superb hard greens.
Jamie had to eat the Weet-Bix.
Afterwards! the boys were interviewed by Elvis on the balcony of St.Michael??s with the Tasman Sea views and you??ll see the whole shebang if you tune into The Golf Show on Tuesday night at 7:30 but only if you live in the country of Australia which the boys are quite enjoying despite taking money off good honest journalists like me and Elvis who plays off six but did not today no-one knows why not even Jesus or Gary Player or Jake the Mus.
This arvo they??re off to Nowra like I writ before, and then Narooma, and then Lakes Entrance, three coastal country towns where the sheep aren??t nervous because they??re more dairy farming communities which also have fishing and tourism industries that prop up the local economies.
Three nice little golf courses too.
And bye for now.
Today we were blessed to have a hit at The Aussie. One of the group one (read: out of this world) courses in Sydney. Unfortunately the front nine was out of action, so we played the back nine twice. This was actually really good as we got to play each hole twice and get a better understanding of its intricacies (which is very unusual this year!!).
The Australian is a strong golf course requiring good golf shots to score well. Despite hitting a fair few of these, JP and I still struggled to score well. But no excuses as the course which was in perfect condition, boasting incredibly true greens. No birdies for the day, despite hitting a wedge for my second into the par 5 18... frustrating stuff.
Again, we were without playing partners as other two balls declined our invitation to join up which was a shame.
The Aussie has atmosphere, it is private and very plush with the most amazing clubhouse that either of us have ever been into. Fortunately we did meet a couple of local members after the round and also thanked and yarned with the General Manager, Mr Bill Green who was a generous host. Check out the video below:
Sydney was hotter than a Two Fat Indians suicide curry today. 36 degrees, give or take. The westerly wind ?? which blows off a great big desert ?? decided to rear its ugly head, and make life difficult for us cold blooded Kiwi creatures. I??ve sweated less in fully cranked saunas than I did trudging around 18 holes at Bonnie Doon this morning. Thank goodness we teed off at 9; a midday start would have been prohibitive. It reminded me of one new year??s day ?? some 5 years ago ?? when we played at New South Wales (a stone??s throw from the course we played yesterday), in 42 degrees. After 4 hours?? sleep. Not ideal.
Anyway there was more to today than suffocating heat. Bonnie Doon is a cracking course located in Pagewood, Sydney. Mike and I have played it a few times before (through a reciprocal rights arrangement with our old club, Russley) - so we knew more or less what we were in for. Big white bunkers, gum trees, rolling fairways and pockets of tussock/scrub characterise what is a pretty tight track. From the 2nd tee you can see right across to the City, and down to neighbouring courses like The Lakes. You get a few other glimpses of the outside world, but for the most part I felt like we could have been anywhere.
BD??s greenkeepers should take a bow; each hole was as immaculately groomed as the last, and the greens, in particular, rolled beautifully. I reckon the design is pretty good too. The par 5s on the front nine (1 and 4) are a bit short, but there are plenty holes that can undo the good work of any birdies they yield. Take the 17th: a 295 metre par 4. It??s mildly uphill, and doglegs slightly to the left. Standing on the tee you think ??birdie?, and that a simple blow with a 3 iron will set up the approach nicely. However. Miss the fairway and good luck landing your 2nd on the tiny green, which by the way is guarded by a raft of (deep) bunkers. Other holes, like the 7th and 10th, look innocuous enough but can make you look the fool. The trick, I think, is to know where you can miss the greens ?? because the fairways and semi cut are so well presented, you can find yourself with pretty straightforward chips if you??ve run off the side of the green. Off the tee the fairways tend to be wider than they look, so hitting the ball with confidence and that in mind will keep you in play on the whole.
Any gaps in our quasi-local knowledge were filled by Matt Cleary, our journo mate and playing partner for the day (see also Day 51 blog). We??re probably the only blokes this side of the Danube that play more golf than Matt, so he??s a valuable resource (not to mention good for a bit of a laugh). With just the 3 of us in the group, we played some ridiculous format that Matt suggested (whereby, roughly, the honour rotates, and the first player to tee off decides whether to take on the other two or team up with another against the third). It took the best part of the front nine for us all to be on the same page about what was going on; it must be one of those haggles that you get craftier at playing after a few attempts. We also entered in the club stableford comp, but wouldn??t have won any of the spoils (with 29, 26 and 24 points ?? myself, Mike and Matt respectively ?? it wasn??t even worth putting our cards in). Mike and I can??t hand in handicapping cards here anyway, so are just keeping them for our own records.
I had my first encounter with Australian wildlife today, having come across a few geckos in the thick stuff. Wired little chaps they are. Thankfully I didn??t meet any snakes ?? although surely, with the amount of golf we??re playing, and the hours we??ll be spending in the Australian scrub over the next 80 days, it??s only a matter of time. It??ll be the rural courses that are the death traps; in the metropolitan areas I reckon you??d have to be unlucky to get bitten. Touch wood.
One final thing to report. Just as Kinloch had the best showers in New Zealand, Bonnie Doon has ?? for the moment ?? the corresponding honour in Australia. The pleasure was probably enhanced by the fact that it was 36 degrees. But I could happily have 3 showers a day in these cubicles, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. The old school locker rooms were great too, with bryl cream and shaving foam available to those hoping to pick up in the bar. Being something of a nostalgic I??m a sucker for such idiosyncracies.
Anyway my laptop is about to melt, a process which will leave molten aluminium on my upper thighs. So I??m heading down to Coogee for another swim. Then we??re having a BBQ this evening back at Matt??s, with a couple of the chaps we met on Saturday. Should be good value. Off to The Australian tomorrow (ranked 11 in Oz) and St Michaels (ranked 58) on Thursday ?? so a great golfing week ahead, suitably kicked off at The ??Doon this morning. Glorious.
Our first full day in Oz took us to The Coast, a links course on the La Perouse coastline ?? a Monterey-like stretch of spectacular golfing turf. With St. Michaels immediately next door, and New South Wales (ranked #2 in Australia) just over the hill, the place is in good company (Randwick GC, which I haven??t played, lies just to the north). A buzzing beach lay just below the back nine, adding to the relaxed atmosphere. Like yesterday, the sun was out in spades, and the wind was fresh without being overly menacing. Lovely golfing conditions.
Wish I could say the same about the body. But in the event sore legs couldn??t detract from the stunning scenery at The Coast. The Pacific was a brilliant deep blue; and there was something captivating ?? even therapeutic ?? about watching the waves crash against the tabletop rocks of the national park coastline. If I??d concentrated more on the golf and less on the views I might have played properly. As it happened I didn??t, nor did Michael.
Our golf today was very much a game of two halves. The back nine was far more enjoyable than the front, for two reasons. First, I think the holes are simply better ?? both in terms of design and of surrounding scenery. Second, and more pertinently, the pace of play on the outward nine was snail-like. Had we done our research we would have learned that the Pennants competition is being held on Sunday afternoons currently, which means the chaps in front were lining up putts as if they were playing in the Ryder Cup. Fair play to them too; it was just one of those things (but no less frustrating for us). Realising at the outset that we were in for a long one, Michael and I asked several 2 balls in front whether they'd like to join up with us. They all declined. We must look like dodgy Kiwis. Anyway, 2 hours 45 minutes it took us to play 9. And slow golf is one of my pet hates. The frustration for me was all consuming, and ruined my concentration. One??s got to have respect for the pros, who appear able to maintain their focus in such adverse circumstances.
Faced with the prospect of another 3 hours or so of golf, we decided to take half time. This involved going for a dip in said beach, and having a ginger beer in the clubhouse (which, by the way, came complementary with the golf), and a quick shower, before tackling the back side. Thankfully a family 4 ball let us through on the 11th tee, allowing us to play at a more sensible pace. Really the last 8 holes were chalk and cheese when compared to the first 10, at least in our experience. For a moment there was a worry that we??d be playing the last couple in the dark, but as we moved briskly on that worry abated. There were some glorious holes down the stretch: I particularly liked 14 (see photo below) and 16, both short par 4s that don??t leave much margin for error (the former sitting atop the cliffs; the latter snaking through the scrub). 17 was interesting too; it has a double, sloping fairway and the approach shot is hit over a creek to a narrow green perched above the beach. Hair raising stuff.
One thing that's stuck in my mind was the uncanny ability I showed today to hit the hole but still miss. 8 lip outs, I counted. Some days they drop; others they don??t. Any golfer worth their salt knows that it doesn??t pay to dwell, and that the correct course is to banish any self pity from the mind. Coming back in 10 shots less than I went out in was enough to give me some encouragement anyway. An 86 (48; 38) for me, and an 87 for Mike (43; 44) - yielding 29 and 26 points respectively. Again the Weetbix honour then went to my friend. Perhaps he likes them.
The Coast, I'm moved to repeat, sits on a stunning piece of real estate. A couple of the views (particularly from the back 9) would stand up against the best anywhere. The course itself has a few strong holes and a few weak ones.
Unfortunately, there appears to be a problem with getting people to repair their pitch marks. Looking after your golf course was an imperative instilled in me at an early age, so failing to do so is something I struggle with. Perhaps a few of my lip outs might not have been lip outs had other players been that little bit more considerate in their actions. Respect for the golf course is something that the kids learn about at The First Tee (as a precursor and parody to learning about respect for oneself and others) - which gives me confidence that the next generation of golfers - at least in NZ - are in good hands. My gripe, however, is only a minor one; the overall experience today was a fantastic one, and we??re looking forward to playing next door St Michaels on Thursday.
Thanks to Gary, Robert and co at The Coast for hosting us. It was a treat of a day, the (understandably) slow play aside.
This morning we crossed the ditch, taking puregolf2010 to the shores of Australia. Sydney! What a thrill. Up at the crack of dawn for the redeye flight, it's fair to say we had a slow start; and when we struck a logjam in the check-in queue at Auckland airport, the nerves began to jitter (notwithstanding the calming influence of our new friend, and Auckland host, Roy, who kindly saw us through to the departure gate). Our sweat glands continued to work over time when we were faced with the prospect of paying $200 excess baggage charges (just about more than the flights themselves cost). But somehow we managed to talk our way down to $80 with the first airline official, and down again to zero with the second. A narrow escape.
Just when we thought all drama had passed us, I then got into a bit of a disagreement with an Indian security official in the baggage collection area - for horsing around with the video camera. The earnest chap didn't like me filming (apparently it's against "The Rools"); I was told in no uncertain terms to delete whatever footage I had taken, and to behave myself. So I did. The lovely Hispanic lady on the Customs Desk was far more pleasant; she asked curiously, with a broad smile, about the stated occupation on my passenger arrival card ("ADVENTURER"). When I told her about puregolf2010, she appeared disappointed; her idea of an adventurer, the charming lady volunteered, was someone who jumps out of a helicopter, as opposed to punters who spend their mundane days playing golf. I can see how it would sound boring to some people.
The flight itself was a breeze, although the chap perched next to me could do with a year at finishing school - he coughed and spluttered on my left shoulder for 3 hours, without once covering his mouth or offering an apologetic gesture. Some people... Mike put together a nice wee compilation vid of the last 50 days, which will go up shortly. Looking back we've had a lot of great experiences in a relatively short space of time. It's forward we're looking now, to the exciting Australian leg ahead.
Matt Cleary - a Sydney journo who last year undertook The Great Lap, a golfing adventure around the perimeter of this great big country (an adventure that obviously shares a bit in common with our own) - kindly met us at the airport, and took us back to his pad to gather ourselves. Matt's a top bloke whom we have been in touch with for weeks now, and after a few banterous emails we were looking forward to meeting him in person. Hilarious lad. And after 10 days of mediocre Auckland weather it was revitalising to feel the sun on our backs in what I always remember as a sunny city. (I spent a summer here in 2005/2006).
We got straight into the Aussie groove before golf, by shooting down to Coogee Beach for a dip. Matt lives a stone's throw away, which is handy to say the least. What a gorgeous beach, packed with gorgeous people. A bit of body surfing was just the thing to dust away any cobwebs left behind by the redeye flight, and to ready us for battle in The Coogee Plate.
The Plate (itself something of a piece of art) has been played for annually by a good bunch of locals for 4 years now. The $40 entry fee got us a round of golf and a good spread at the Coogee Bay Hotel in the evening - plus the opportunity to win a prize or two. Eastlakes GC was our venue: a nice public track in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. It's probably the poor cousin of 3 courses plonked more or less side by side (the other two being the more elite Bonnie Doon and The Lakes) - but I thought it stood up well, particularly when the wind got up. The front 9 was pretty benign (and short), but stopping your ball on the greens proved tricky as the sunbaked turf played more like concrete than grass. On the back 9 (and along the latter few holes of the front) were stronger tests; a climbing par 3 surrounded by scrub was especially daunting, and on the par 3 17th I was forced to take the undignified action of pulling driver. Big girl's blouse.
Some good golf was played, most prolifically by the 4th member of our group, an amazing chap by the name of Cass. The man's in his early sixties, but is fitter than most people could ever hope to be in their 20s. Growing up in South Africa, had it not been for apartheid-related obstacles Cass would have competed in the Olympics as a whippit 1500 metre runner. He's run a 4:03 mile. Each morning Cass rises at 5am for a brisk gallop and a dip at Coogee. A pretty amazing guy, as I said. Anyway his golf was impressive, unfortunately for The Kiwis. (We took on the Aussies in a best ball match, for a beer). Par after par after par sunk our hopes of clinching the Bledisloe, which we lost 1 down. His 81, combined with a few good pars by partner Matt (who sunk a downhill, breaking 15 footer on the last for the match) proved too good - although I managed a 78, which wasn't bad. Poor Mike battled with himself for an 88, winning him the Weetbix.
The fixture migrated to the Coogee Bay Hotel, for the after match do. For those that haven't heard of it, the CBH is an Aussie icon (although sometimes for the wrong reasons). A massive pub. Prizes were dished out for closest to the pin, longest drive and, of course, for The Plate itself. Matt took out the best scratch trophy (rightfully awarded to locals, to encourage a continuing culture of participation across the years) - an honour that won him an Ebenezer of good Aussie shiraz. A couple of ceremonial words were said, then good natured banter took over, as the more social end of the day took hold. Good clean fun. I got chatting to a few blokes from my part of the world (an Irishman, an Englishman and a Scot - which sounds like the first line of a bad joke), who had played in the golf and who had a few good stories to tell. Like many before them these boys had come out on their OE some 15 years or so ago, and got stuck. Coogee will do that.
A great day all round; a magic way to get under way in Aussie. Eastlakes was no Augusta, but it was the social dimension of the day - and the occasion of playing in The Plate - that made Day 51 stand out. We're staying with Matt tonight, and will play at The Coast tomorrow (probably after a refreshing morning dip down the road). Aussie Aussie Aussie; Oi Oi Oi!
Before today I'd never been to Pukekohe. My little sister's got a couple of chums there, and when she'd stayed she seemed to love the place, but other than her musings I had nothing to go on. In the end we didn't even see Pukekohe proper - the golf club is a few k's out of town, and Google Maps seemed more intent on getting us directly there, rather than through the town. Another day, perhaps.
The first concern when we reached the golf club centred around a cake. A lovely chocolate cake to be precise. The night prior - which we had spent, again, with the Le Herons in dairy farming country - it had been baked, by our mate Simon's kind mother, for my birthday. (Today I clocked a quarter century, marking the official beginning of what, in Gen Y terms, is known as a "quarter life crisis" - very creative). Helen had made me this beautiful cake, but it was stinking hot in the car, and if the defenseless cake had been left to fend for itself while we enjoyed 18 holes, it doesn't take Einstein to guess what would have happened. Dead cake.
So I approached the General Manager's office - cake in hand - to first greet him, and second ask if he would accommodate my cake for a few hours. He kindly obliged, and showed us to the pro shop. With the cake safe for now, I could relax, and turn my mind to the golf. As it turned out we were joined by an affable chap from East Sussex, by the name of Sydney. Sydney has been to NZ some 6 times or so, and his daughter emigrated here a couple of years ago; currently he spends 4 months a year in 'Kohe, the rest in the motherland - but next year he may take the big leap and emigrate himself. Why wouldn't he? (You would never have known it, but Sydney's actually a grandfather, at the ripe old age of 74 - I guess upping sticks can't be easy at that age, but Sydney struck me as a resilient sort of fellow).
Having spent a couple of summers finding his way around Pukekohe Golf Club, he had accumulated a fair bit of local knowledge, which he generously shared with us on the way around. Just as well too. There's a good few lakes, and a blind tee shot or three - not to mention out of bounds on what seemed like every hole. I exaggerate. If you want to find trouble at Pukekohe, you don't have to look too hard. Thankfully I only made it into one lake (a thinned flop shot from the other side of the green) and strayed out of bounds only once. Michael was slightly more adventurous, and saw a fair bit of the local countryside. As such he ended up with the Weetbix again today, two days in a row now. Slippery slope.
It must have been dry of late in these parts, because the fairways looked thirsty. Underground watering from what I understand is not cheap, but if global warming is going to yield summers like the one we'll soon farewell, it might be a necessary evil. Pukekohe, for me, was the sort of course that - were it not for a constant battle with the elements - could be up there with some of the big boys. Golfers can be superficial creatures, and often get preoccupied with the condition of a course (which can vary almost daily), rather than with the merits of its layout. This tendency can be unfair, as clubs that can pump millions of dollars into their course immediately have an advantage over less fortunate others. What I'm trying to say is that immaculate courses are not always the best.
With this in mind - and I mean no discredit to the greenkeepers at Pukekohe - Pukekohe is a solid golf course. It's not too short, and on many holes it pays to lay up with an iron. Strategic golf is my cup of tea, and Pukekohe delivered.
On our way out I remembered..."the cake!" While Michael wolfed down his punishment Weetbix, i had a slice or two of Helen's lovely cake. Delicious.
JP
Chisholm Park
12 holes bart cape kidnappers christchurch christmas doak ed bayley hawke's bay heretaunga jane poole napier golf club new zealand puregolf2010 rangiora rarangi gc royal royal wellington the first tee the interislander waiohiki
